The new energy price cap con?

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"It is worse than a gimmick – it’s a con. British consumers aren’t that gullible."

The words of former Conservative energy minister Greg Barker are seemingly long forgotten in the corridors of the Tory party HQ.

In late 2013 the minister was taking aim at the Labour party's pledge to freeze energy prices. Now, after weeks of fevered speculation, the Conservative party manifesto has confirmed the party's own plans to take action on rising energy bills by setting a cap for standard variable tariffs.

The Government says it will knock £100 off annual bills for 70pc of the market, equivalent to 18 million households. It also wiped millions of pounds from the market value of the energy industry’s largest...